We’re Given a Father for Such a Short Time

I walk out onto the dock

as far as I can go in the rain,

the rain with its many arrows

pointing to the earth

where you have gone

fishing. I wonder what it was

you loved about fishing,

had nothing to do with fish.

Had more to do with the lake.

How in these long stretches

of time you became son

to the lake and it raised you,

loved you back with its waves

and water, its shiny blue fish.

 

In Buddhism, we believe

in Cause and Effect. You can't leave

one place without arriving

some place else

Here's to your safe arrival –

wherever that is. Here's to

the universe that gave me a father

for such a short time.

"Here, take Fred. But give him back

when you're done." When you're done

doing the things that ganels do

with fathers that fish.

Tell jokes about The One That Got Away,

spin him around three times

till he walks back confused

in another direction, another life,

becomes my barber, my busybody neighbor,

my best friend.

 

Pin the tail on your life.

Recognize it from a speeding car.

Here's to the car that gets you there.

Here's to the traffic that gets

in your way.